Well That Was Quick: Newly Launched California Pacific Starts to Shut Down

California Pacific Airlines, a small commuter airline designed to get business travelers away from the bustle of larger airports, just recently started running at full operation in November—now, the airline has nixed a number of routes, including all of them out of California, as it deals with pilot shortages.

For the past ten years, California Pacific Airlines has been trying to become a full-fledged operational airline, geared to business travelers who want to skip the chaos at larger airports just to get to work. Year after year, the airline faced challenges with securing routes and getting FAA certifications—and November 2018, it finally officially launched as a fully operational airline. Until now, that is. As of the end of December, all flights have been cancelled in and out of California, though flights in Colorado will still run.

The issues for the airline started almost immediately after it went fully operational. There were only four jets to begin with, and two had to be removed for repairs in December, causing delays and cancellations. After those planes were fixed, things were normal for about a week but then went awry again with more cancelled flights. That was around Christmastime. Now, the trouble seems to be a lack of available pilots. Two were recently fired, and two other crews left the airline for seasonal work at other, higher-paying ones.

According to founder Ted Vallas, reported by 10News, all cancelled flights are going to be refunded, and more pilots are currently in training. The California routes are expected to open back up in February.

1 Comment

plenty of foreign pilots around. Just look at Etihad dumping 50 pilots & cancelling plane orders. This will happen almost everywhere. In USA consolidation has led to higher fares, but more profitable airlines.